Saturday, September 08, 2012

Joe Walsh is a misogynistic asshole

I'm talking about the right-wing Republican congressman from Illinois who in July said his challenger, Tammy Duckworth, a double amputee Iraq War vet, wasn't a "true hero," and who in August said the political winds were going to "pick this president up and pat him on
the head and say, son, son, son, Mr. President, you were never ready to
be president, now go home and work for somebody and find out how the
real world works," disrespectful and racially inflammatory rhetoric, to be sure.And those are just two examples.Well, he's at it again, as ugly as ever, this time going after Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student whom Dear Leader Rush called a "slut," among other horrible things, simply because she argued that contraception (that she needs for health reasons) should be covered by insurance:

At a campaign stop Saturday in Addison, IL, Walsh, who faces a tough
reelection battle, went on a self-described rant about Fluke, attacking
her support for contraception coverage and telling the law student to "get a job."

"So at the Democratic Convention Wednesday night their first prime
time speaker was Sandra Fluke, whatever her name is," Walsh said. "Think
about this, a 31-32 year old law student who has been a student for
life, who gets up there in front of a national audience and tells the
American people, 'I want America to pay for my contraceptives.' You're
kidding me. Go get a job. Go get a job Sandra Fluke."

"This a woman who feels entitled that we all should pay for her
contraceptives," he said. "This is what we are teaching Americans? That
was embarrassing. That was embarrassing."

Um, no. Fluke is a law student at a prestigious school. She's getting an education. She doesn't need to get a job right now.

Furthermore, it's not like Fluke, along with so many others, wants the government to subsidize some sort of depraved lifestyle (if you think that sort of thing is depraved). Many women need contraception (the pill, specifically) for serious health reasons. More than that, though, women want to be in control of their own bodies, to be able to make choices about their health, not to have a bunch of misogynistic men tell them what they can and cannot do. And what's more, if you want to reduce the number of abortions that are performed in the U.S., which is what almost all of us who are pro-choice want, the best way to do that is to make contraception widely available and accessible, and specifically to those who lack the resources to purchase it.What Fluke said wasn't meant to be solely about Sandra Fluke. It was meant to be about all women -- and that's exactly the case Fluke made at the Democratic convention a few days ago. Maybe Fluke can afford contraception, maybe she can't. But what about the millions of women who can't?Not that Walsh cares. This is a guy who didn't pay child support -- to the tune of more than $100,000. He disrespects education and obviously disrespects women. Actually, that's an understatment. It would seem he's a vindictive misogynist who thinks women should just shut the fuck up and do what they're told, much like what he thinks America's black president should do.We all know Republicans are waging a war on women. With Walsh, it's personal.

3 Comments:

Good piece,There is an astonishing video of Walsh at a meeting at a restaurant with some of his constituents.One constituent asks him a question that he doesn't like and Walsh throws a big hissy fit and threatens to kick her out of the meeting.I wish I had been there. I would have would walked up and gotten in his face and said, "I'm a taxpayer and YOU are my employee. YOU answer to ME because I pay your salary. And this is a public restaurant. Make me leave, asshole."